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by Shukketsu-Sakura
Summary: He just wasn't ready to let go. Just. Wasn't. Ready. [KisaSaku] WARNING! character death. ONESHOT.


He wasn't ready to let go.

He just wasn't ready.

He clung to her like a distraught infant, digging his blunt nails into the back of her shirt and burying his head into her shoulder. He jerked when she gasped, afraid that she was leaving. He lifted his head up to look her in the eye, and hers wouldn't meet his.

"Sakura…hold on…I'll get help. I promise, just don't go." He whispered to her, cupping her face with his large blue hand. "Stay with me, come on…" He sobbed as he held her, awaiting her partner's arrival with another one of his comrades. Itachi went to fetch help – Sasori; the poisons master. Something had been on the kunai that had pierced her in battle, something very wicked.

In all of Kisame's years of being in an organization with Sasori of the Red Sand, he could not identify this poison, let alone rid her of it. He pulled her head under his chin and rested his on hers. He stroked her soft pink hair and rubbed her arm, trying to reassure himself that she would be okay.

Her small hand clapped onto his shoulder and she clutched tight, his skin breaking under her fingernails and bleeding onto her fingers. He immediately looked at her face and into her eyes. They were dilated, and she looked as if she were blind – she didn't look at him. She looked _beyond_ him.

"Ki—sa—me—" She said in between gasps, her hand searching his face frantically for his gills. She found them and stroked them briskly, confirming that they were there. He shuddered at that still, even when she was dying in his arms.

"Don't—let me—go—I—don't want—to go—" She strained to look at him and _see_ him, finding a smear of blue amongst the white…She cupped his face with her hands and pulled him to her gently. She pulled his head to rest on her chest.

"Sakura, I won't let go…I promise to the dear Lord, I won't let go." He held her tight, his tears wetting her shirt. He heard the strangled thumps of her heart, struggling to keep beating. He pulled back, not wanting to hear her heart stop.

He looked at her close, focusing on her fading eyes. They were chalky-green and distant, hardly seeing him at all. Kisame cradled her face in his hands again, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a deep and loving kiss, crying while he enjoyed the most blissful moment of his life.

When he pulled back there was a bitter taste in his mouth, but he didn't care. She had stopped squirming and sat still. Her eyes were bright green once more, and she looked at him. _At him_. He smiled at her but she didn't smile back.

He looked at her eyes to notice that they weren't green, they were grey-green, and she was still because…she had stopped breathing. She wasn't looking at him, she wasn't even _looking_ anymore. She was dead.

His eyes went wide, and he shook her gently. "Sakura…?" He shook harder when she failed to answer.

He was searching for her pulse. "Sakura!?"

He put his hand over her mouth, and his hand remained cold.

"Sakura!!" Tears poured from his silver eyes in streams as he clutched his beloved close, begging her to come back.

"Come back!!" He howled. "Sakura!! PLEASE! Come…back…" he shook hard, crying into her now empty frame. "Please, Lord, give her back! Please…"

Itachi and Sasori ran up to him and tried to pull him away from her, but he refused to let go. They saw that she was gone and let him hold her body, their heads down and their eyes sad.

Kisame insisted that they use his life and give it to her, but Pein detested it. He told Kisame that he would not allow it. "You are _far_ too valuable to be given up for a mere girl."

"Mere…_girl_!?" He walked over to his leader, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and lifting him from the ground. "I loved her! Sakura was my heart and soul, and now she's _gone_! Do you know what it's like to lose someone that you love _TWICE_?!" He bellowed in Pein's face, infuriated beyond sanity.

He set Pein down on his feet gently, straightening his collar. "Sir…I'm…please, forgive me—"

"Kisame," Pein held his hand up. "Do not elaborate. I apologize for being insensitive, but I am sorry. Miss Haruno cannot be revived." He turned professionally and walked promptly out of the sitting room of the hideaway.

Kisame turned inelegantly and sulked to his room, tears stinging to be let free from his eyes. He approached his door and opened it angrily, slamming it hard enough to make the floor shake.

He plopped on his bed and stared absently at nothing, thinking about her. He looked over to his bedside table where a picture of Sakura and himself sat. She was hugging his arm tightly and smiling innocently, while he smiled lovingly at her.

The tears fell from his eyes and dropped onto his hands. He put his head in his hands and cried.

After he could cry no more, he stood and walked to his door. He opened it and walked into the main room. He strode to the cave entrance and slipped out. He stood outside that door for hours as he had done before, waiting for her to come back…

_Please review if you liked it. _

_Constructive criticism is always good. _

_Please don't review of you didn't like it._

_Thank you!!_

_--Shukketsu-Sakura_


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